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Ashrawi vows Palestinian state will be born in 1999
April 29, 1998
Ashrawi
Web posted at: 4:35 p.m. EDT (2035 GMT)WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Palestinian Minister of Higher Education Hanan Ashrawi said Wednesday that the Palestinians would announce the formation of a State of Palestine on May 5, 1999 -- even if the Middle East process continues to stall.
Ashrawi made the announcement during a news conference at the National Press Club.
"I'm saying this with all candor and honesty, that we will declare statehood on May 5th, 1999" Ashrawi said. "This is not a threat. It's a promise."
May 4, 1999, is a key date in the interim Israeli-Palestinian peace accords reached in Oslo in 1993. According to the Oslo accords, permanent status issues -- such as borders, the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements -- are to be dealt with by that date.
However, the interim accords have been stalemated for more than a year amid controversy over Jewish settlement policies and bomb attacks by Islamic fundamentalist extremists.
The United States, trying to advance a peace package deal to break the deadlock, has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine Authority President Yasser Arafat to separate talks with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in London on May 4.
Arafat During Wednesday's Washington news conference, Ashrawi said that "Palestinian statehood is the sine qua non for a just and lasting peace."
She also said that statehood was a Palestinian right that "is not subject to Israeli approval."
Earlier this month, Arafat had already warned that he would declare statehood if the parties failed to reach a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace accord by May next year.
That statement drew an immediate and angry response from Netanyahu, who said that such a move would be "a mistake twice over."
Asked if he was threatening to annex parts of the West Bank that interim peace accords left under Israel's control, Netanyahu said:
"You know very well what my intention is if we act unilaterally ... We don't want to reach this situation and we don't want to take unilateral steps," he told Israeli television.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Related stories:
- Ross tries to thaw Mideast peace process - April 26, 1998
- More shuttle diplomacy likely for U.S. Mideast envoy Ross - April 8, 1998
- Defiant Netanyahu puts his faith in 'stubbornness' - March 31, 1998
Related sites:
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- Office of The Israeli Prime Minister - information in both Hebrew and English
- Israeli Foreign Ministry - information about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as recent developments in Israel
- Palestinian National Authority - official site of the PNA
- The Palestine Ministry Of Information - press releases, daily news and other information
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